The aristry of Howard Karp is eloquently displayed on this six-CD set of his concert recordings.

This six-CD set documents the unparalleled artistry of pianist Howard Karp with concert recordings from 1962 through 2007. Howard Karp studied at the Oberlin Conservatory with Jack Radunsky and at Juilliard with Rosina Lhevinne. He also studied in Vienna as a Fulbright scholar at the Akademie für Musik and with Wilhelm Kempff in Positano. His 45-year teaching career at the Universities of Kentucky, Illinois and Wiconsin culminated in his appointment as Emeritus Professor of Music in 2000. As a performer, Howard Karp won acclaim for solo and chamber music recitals throughout the United States and Europe and his former students can be found on the faculties of numerous colleges and universities throughout North American and Asia.

Review:

“[Howard Karp] brought extraordinary technique, wondrous fluidity, arresting insights and especially a rich, deep piano sound to his performances of wide-ranging repertory. The Albany recordings are taken from recitals he gave between 1962 and 2007, mostly at Midwestern universities, though there is a riveting account of Leon Kirchner’s First Piano Sonata (1948) recorded by Berlin Radio in 1973. Karp clearly thrived in concerts, because the performances in this collection are palpably assured. In six pieces from Liszt’s daunting, visionary suites “Années de Pélerinage” (“Years of Pilgrimage”), recorded at various universities mostly during the ’70s, Karp’s playing is technically brilliant and profoundly musical. How is it possible that a pianist who could play Liszt like this was not signed up and sent on tour by a major manager? From what I knew of him, though, Karp would not have been interested. His account of Beethoven’s mighty “Hammerklavier” Sonata, taken from a 1970 recital at the University of Illinois in Urbana, is remarkable. True to his heritage as a Lhevinne student, he plays with Romantic fervor and spaciousness. But this is also a lucid, intricately detailed and exhilarating performance of Beethoven’s labyrinthine and difficult sonata. The highlights of the set are performances of two major Schumann works: the Sonata No. 3 in F minor, in 1967, and the Fantasy, in 1972, both recorded at the University of Illinois. Schumann’s Fantasy blends Beethovenian structure with, appropriate to its title, fantastical wildness. Karp uncannily conveys both qualities at once. His account of the Sonata in F minor, subtitled Concerto Without Orchestra, is revelatory. Though this epic work has arresting qualities, it is at its core baffling, ungainly and complex music. While playing with consummate pianism, Karp conveys the strangeness in the piece, as in the seemingly chaotic stretches of development in the first movement.” (The New York Times) For the complete review, please visit:

“[Howard Karp] is spectacularly adept and handling the most difficult and demanding works. …What we have here is fantastic display of showmanship. Ten fingers, sounding like twice that, shower us with notes in an amazing Horowitz-like fashion.” (American Record Guide)

“…I’d never heard of Howard Karp… After thoroughly enjoying this wonderful collec-tion of great solo piano music, played with tremendous flair and joy, I can only wonder why. … The playing is big-boned, lusciously toned, and tinged by an unabashedly per-sonal perspective.” (Fanfare)